Pelicans

I went down to La Jolla last week to check out the brown pelicans (Pelecanus occidentalis californicus). There is a fence blocking access to the cliffs now, which is unfortunate and a real shame. When I was going to UCSD (many years ago) we would leap into the ocean from these same cliffs. Alas, no longer, thanks to politicians and/or lawyers who have decided they know what is best for us and the birds. Anyway, the pelicans are starting to change into their winter breeding colors. I saw quite a few sporting a red gular throat pouch, a good sign, but I did not see many with well-developed chestnut neck color yet. Probably in January.

Here is a California brown pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis) preening. Using it’s long bill, the pelican spreads preen oil from its uropygial gland (near its tail) and spreads it over its wings and head. The preen oil helps to keep the feathers clean and dry. Check out the bird’s coloration, it is at the height of it’s breeding plumage with a bright red throat and chestnut brown hind neck.

A brown pelican preening, reaching with its beak to the uropygial gland (preen gland) near the base of its tail. Preen oil from the uropygial gland is spread by the pelican’s beak and back of its head to all other feathers on the pelican, helping to keep them water resistant and dry. Note adult winter breeding plumage in display, with brown neck, red gular throat pouch and yellow and white head.Image ID: 20295Species: Brown Pelican, Pelecanus occidentalis, Pelecanus occidentalis californicusLocation: La Jolla, California, USA

More photographs of the California race of brown pelicans (Pelecanus occidentalis) from a recent morning in La Jolla, between storms. These show the bright red and olive colors that the large gular throat pouch takes on, as well as the dark brown hind neck and yellow head feathers, that are characteristic of breeding adults during winter months.

A morning dentist appointment in La Jolla meant a short visit beforehand to shoot pelicans before I submitted myself to my semi-annual tooth cleaning (no cavities). I met David Osborn, a wonderful photographer from England who is currently in California to shoot a variety of natural history subjects for a few weeks, and old diving pal Jim Campbell who came over from Coronado to shoot too. It was a perfect morning to be at the ocean’s edge in La Jolla: sunny, warm, clear and the ocean glassed off for miles.

The Mavericks Surf contest was held today. No, I did not shoot it, unfortunately. I took photos of pelicans instead, not quite the same but the best I could do under the circumstances. Check out our Guide to Photographing Pelicans in La Jolla.

It looked beautiful out my front window this morning, so I headed off to La Jolla hoping for some sharp brown pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis) flight shots. Not to be. The clouds had built up around Mt. Soledad by the time I got down there. I tried to salvage the morning with some blurred flight shots and got a couple of marginal keepers but the color of the light was weird (see shots below). What saved the morning from being a total loss was a small group of gregarious sea lions. Having been hauled out for a while most of them were a nice shade of blond (and dumb?).

I got down to La Jolla again this morning. It looked clear when I left the house but when I checked the surf at Ponto it was bumpy so I decided no go on surf photos and went with the backup plan of birds for the second day in a row. I should have opened the car window, then I would have known how windy it was. Anyway, I get down to La Jolla, hop out of the car and my hair goes swirly, its really windy. I go to my favorite spot and watch all the birds looping around, riding the gusts and figuring out where to land. As the morning went on I saw Mike Wilson (whom I met a couple times last winter) as well as John Pelafigue again. I managed to get a few more good flight shots by handholding the 300. I ran into three more people who mentioned they had seen my blog comments on pelicans in La Jolla and found them helpful. So I’ve added a few more comments and and published them as a PDF file. Here it is:

I met photographer John Pelafigue this morning, a great guy from Humbolt whose website has some really fine images. I also bumped into Garry McCarthy whom I had not seen since bumping into him in La Jolla shooting birds a year ago. Like myself, Garry is an underwater photographer who has also taken up the curious habit of shooting photos on land. Its sad, really, when one gives up real photography for the less savory and more mundane terrestrial pursuit(cue: laugh). As far as my photography went, I had too much lens and my flight shots were pretty weak. I did get a couple pre-sunrise shots of of brown pelicans (Pelecanus occidentalis) about 7am, some 30 minutes before the sun tops Mt. Soledad and lights the birds: